Iranian president defends his foreign minister’s visit to G7

August 26, 2019

In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani, left, reviews an honor guard as he is accompanied by his Defense Minister Gen. Amir Hatami during a ceremony to unveil Iran-made Bavar-373 air-defense missile system, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019. Iran says the Bavar-373 is a long-range surface-to-air missile system able to recognize up to 100 targets at a same time and confront them with six different weapons. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani, left, reviews an honor guard as he is accompanied by his Defense Minister Gen. Amir Hatami during a ceremony to unveil Iran-made Bavar-373 air-defense missile system, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019. Iran says the Bavar-373 is a long-range surface-to-air missile system able to recognize up to 100 targets at a same time and confront them with six different weapons. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s president is defending his foreign minister’s surprise visit to the G-7 summit, saying he’s himself ready to go anywhere to negotiate a way out of the crisis following the U.S. pullout from the nuclear deal.

Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech Monday: “If I knew that going to a meeting and visiting a person would help my country’s development and resolve the problems of the people, I would not miss it.”

Rouhani stressed that “we have to negotiate, we have to find a solution, and we have to solve the problem.”

He added there will be a meeting of Iranian officials later in the day to discuss Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s visit Sunday to France’s Biarritz, where leaders of the Group of Seven rich democracies were meeting.